A) The husband lives overseas. B) The wife is in NYC for two months. Then she will move abroad. C) They were initially married in New York State. D) They currently want a divorce. Query: Is it true that no divorce can be completed until either the husband or wife has lived in (residency) America for at least one year? Also, they can not even get a legal separation unless one of them is living in the States? And even legal name changes are expensive and troublesome, without one year’s residency? Is all this true? If so, how can one move on with their life, if their new life takes them overseas and being overseas means no divorce can be settled?
For New York to have jurisdiction over the divorce matter, a one-year residency requirement is necessary. Therefore, you are correct in stating that New York cannot serve as the jurisdiction. If both parties are agreeable, and there are no assets or children involved in New York or another state, you can both get a divorce in a state which has no residency requirement, such as Nevada or Tijuana, Mexico. New York will recognize foreign jurisdiction divorces, but will not allow assets or custody questions to be determined by such other jurisdictions. The divorce itself, however, unless contested by either party, will be recognized by the New York courts.
Leonard M. Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions